1st Poetry Recitation Championship Held in Marquette

Marquette – 02/01/12 – The first-ever Marquette Senior High School Poetry Out Loud Recitation Championship is scheduled for Thursday, February 2nd, starting at 12:40 in the Shirley Smith Little Theatre at MSHS.

The MSHS Poetry Recitation Championship will consist of two rounds, with each contestant reciting one poem in each round, following rules set by the National Endowment for the Arts and will be judged by a panel of professors and poets from Northern Michigan University.

The winner of the MSHS contest will advance to the Michigan State Championships at Saginaw Valley State University in the Rhea H. Miller Recital Hall on March 9th and 10th. The State Championship is sponsored by the Michigan Humanities Council. The State Champion will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC, to compete at the National Finals.

A total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends will be given out at the Poetry Out Loud National Finals in Washington D.C., with a $20,000 award for the National Champion.

To learn more about Poetry Out Loud and to view the criteria judges will use to rank recitations, please visit: http://www.poetryoutloud.org/